Panel mountable electrical connectors comprise a housing having at least one electrically conductive terminal therein. The housing typically comprises nonconductive material, and may be partly or entirely molded from plastic. The housing of the panel mountable electrical connector includes a mating end with structure that permits repeated mating and unmating with a second electrical connector. The second electrical connector may be mounted to wires, a cable, a circuit board or a second panel.
The panel mountable electrical connector further includes means for mounting the connector to an aperture in a panel. Many prior art connectors of this general type have included separate means for achieving secure mounting to the panel. For example, the connector housing on such prior art connectors may include a flange which exceeds the cross-sectional dimensions of the mounting aperture in the panel. A smaller portion of the connector housing will extend through the mounting aperture in the panel and will be engageable with separate retaining means, such as a nut or a clip engageable against the opposed side of the panel. A portion of the panel will thus be locked between the flange of the connector housing and the separable retaining means.
Other prior art panel mountable electrical connector housings have included integral latches that lockingly engage the panel, thereby avoiding the need to employ separate panel engaging means with the electrical connector housing. In this regard, it is desirable to minimize the number of components employed in an electrical connector housing to reduce costs, to facilitate assembly and to avoid inventory control problems.
Many electrical connectors are employed in blind mating environments where precise alignment of the connectors during mating cannot always be assured. For example, a panel mountable electrical connector may be disposed at a relatively inaccessible location in an automotive vehicle, a photostatic copier or a computer. An attempt to mate improperly aligned connectors can result in substantial damage to one or both connectors and/or to the fragile electrically conductive terminals mounted therein. Furthermore, the forces encountered by a technician during an attempt to mate improperly aligned connectors can be interpreted by the technician as an indication of complete mating. Thus, mating forces may be terminated prior to achieving complete mating, thereby resulting in a poor quality electrical connection or no electrical connection at all.
Many prior art panel mountable electrical connectors intended for blind mating applications have been provided with structure to achieve a floating mount of the connector to the panel. A floating mount generally is achieved by having a panel mounting aperture with dimensions that exceed the dimensions of portions of the connector housing passing through the panel. The mounting means employed on such floating panel mount connectors are constructed to prevent separation of the connector from the panel, but to permit relative float therebetween. Some floating panel mountable connectors only permit float of the connector within the plane of the panel. Other prior art floating panel mountable connectors also permit angular float of the connector about an axis disposed in the plane of the panel. Angular float is acceptable in some instances, but in many other instances angular float will misalign terminals during early stages of mating, and thus may damage the terminals.
Most prior art floating panel mountable connectors include biasing means for approximately centering the connector housing relative to the aperture in the panel and/or angularly realigning the connector into a position where the mating axis of the connector is substantially orthogonal to the plane of the panel. Many of these prior art floating panel mountable connectors employ separate biasing means. However, the prior art does include floating panel mount connectors wherein the biasing means is unitary with the housing. Examples of prior art floating panel mountable connectors with integral panel engagement and biasing means include: U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,343 which issued to Lucius et al. on Nov. 2, 1976; U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,874 which issued to Weidler et al. on Sept. 25, 1979; U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,984 which issued to Sugiyama et al. on Mar. 28, 1989 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,584 which issued to Cox on June 20, 1989.
In addition to providing electrical connectors that can float relative to a panel and that can achieve some degree of centering, it is now considered desirable to provide an electrical connector that can positively and accurately center itself in the mounting aperture of a panel, and that can further achieve self-alignment about the mating axis extending substantially orthogonal to the plane of the panel. This is particularly important, for example, where a printed circuit board having at least one connector mounted thereto is being mated to at least one panel mounted electrical connector under blind mating conditions. In these situations, the available space may limit visibility of the connectors and may further limit the ability to accurately align the printed circuit board to the panel. The existence of several connectors on the panel and/or the circuit board may further complicate alignment during mating and unmating.
It is now also considered desirable to provide panel mountable self-aligning and self-centering connectors that can readily be mounted to or removed from a panel even in situations where only the front of the panel is accessible. The above referenced prior art connectors with integral centering means generally are not well suited for removal from the panel, and most require destruction of the connector and/or damage to the panel to effect removal.
In view of the above, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a panel mountable electrical connector assembly that can float in all radial directions within the plane of the panel during mating.
It is another object of the subject invention to provide a panel mountable electrical connector assembly that will positively and accurately align itself with respect to all axes prior to each mating and after each unmating.
It is an additional object of the subject invention to provide an electrical connector that will achieve proper rotational alignment of the connector about the mating axis of the connector.
Still another object of the subject invention is to provide a floating panel mount electrical connector having a unitarily molded housing.
Still a further object of the subject invention is to provide an efficient floating panel mount connector that can readily be mounted to a panel and that can readily selectively be removed therefrom.